You probably know the old saying, “Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees.” That well-turned phrase is a good metaphor for my life this past year. For 2017 I resolve to see the trees AND the forest.

Why is that news? It’s the first time the 30-year FRM rate has gone over 4% this year. You have to go back to July of 2015 to find a weekly survey rate above 4.03%. Will be interesting to see what the Fed does next! See the Freddie weekly survey chart here.

At odds with the monthly job growth is a recent article suggesting job cuts are coming at an increasing pace to the tech industry. I see lots of “Help Wanted” signs in coffee shop windows. Will high-tech to barista work well when you have a $3,500 per month rent payment? Don’t think so!

The bright Sun is lighting the back yard in a vivid contrast of lightness and dark shadows. Autumn light is getting lower in the sky each day casting those long shadows that I relate to the changing seasons. This week we have been challenged by Nancy Thanki to share a photo that reflects something bright that caught the eye. Here are a few examples from my world.

She goes on to say: “Home is what and who is local — the places and people we know by heart.”

I live near, but not on, the coast. My heart is where you can hear the surf when you open your window. Smell salt in the ocean spray. Even fight off the seagulls looking for a handout and hovering precariously overhead.

The nearest “local” town for me, a place where many friends live and the coastline is long and full of fun spots, is Pacifica, California. It’s only four miles to the beach but it’s a world apart. It’s on the west side of the San Andreas Fault and I live just 300 yards on the east side of the fault. To go west from where I live I have to drive about 6 miles south to Highway 92 or about 3 miles north to Sharp Park Road. In that 9 mile stretch there’s nothing but about 30,000 acres of open space. Pacifica is squeezed between Sweeney Ridge and the Pacific Ocean on the west side of all that open space. It’s a town of little valley communities all strung together by Highway One. The Manor district in the north, Sharp Park, Vallemar, Rockaway and Linda Mar are separate and distinct communities that unite under the Pacifica banner for the annual Fogfest in September. You know you have reached a unique place when the main annual celebration focuses on the near ever present fog.